<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The prices we pay by Void_Home</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23502139">The prices we pay</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Void_Home/pseuds/Void_Home'>Void_Home</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Begin again, Begin again, Ｂｅｇｉｎ  Ａｇａｉｎ. [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fae Magic, Gen, questionably fae salem, reverse au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:02:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23502139</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Void_Home/pseuds/Void_Home</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They call her the cornerwitch<br/>and she's easy to find if you know where to look.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Begin again, Begin again, Ｂｅｇｉｎ  Ａｇａｉｎ. [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691107</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The prices we pay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ruby looks from the crumpled photograph to the hunched woman sitting across from her, sipping tea and staring out the window in silence. Comfortably waiting for the silver-eyed girl to decide what to give for what she wanted. By now, she had been here once and found information on a sister she could only barely remember, at the cost of an uncle she no longer could recall. She’d returned nearly a year later, barely finding the path through the woods again that led to the tiny cottage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d knocked three times, and presented the glass bottle of milk she’d picked up on the way. It had made Salem smile slightly, clearly pleased she’d remembered and Ruby had been ushered in and offered a seat at the table. They’d stayed like that since. Ruby learned Salem was a patient woman, and she was glad. She wasn’t sure if she could handle being rushed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want to know if my mother is alive. And if she is, where I can find her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Salem sets her teacup down on the saucer, looking at the grit inside before back up to Ruby. She turns the question over in her mind several times before holding her hand out. “And what do you have to offer for this knowledge, Rose?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ruby smoothes the photograph a few more times before taking a deep breath, steeling her nerves before pressing the photograph into Salem’s hand. “A hundred memories at night, of a person I’ve longed to know my whole life. It’s worth something, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The photograph is turned over several times before Salem closes her hand. When she opens it, a single cartridge of hard light dust rests in her palm. “A woman in a black hood will stop you in a week. She’ll ask if you have a cartridge of dust she can use. She’s not your mother, but she can get you to her. Give this cartridge to her.” Ruby looks at it before nodding timidly and taking the cartridge. She tucks it away into the pouch on her skirt and bows her head before standing to leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve been a great help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Go.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And so Ruby did.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>